The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-09-28
tFrom the NJ FORK Times.)

ana EEildren--.s nu ESfleclhliE 10 rSlSii'
Agents.
(From the NJ Iork Times)
a very interesting controversy has
been agitating the minds and hearts Of
the freight agents Of transcontiaenta.
railroads, the pool commissioners, the
Interstate commerce commissioners,
and California dry goods merchants since
early in February.
And it is all about bustles. Although
! this article has long occupied place o.
dignity and prominence II the wardrobe
Of the properly appareled woman, anc
has formed an important item u the
business of merchants, manufacturers,
caraocpists ard common carriers, II had
net, ,.ntil the july revision, occupied q
place on the freight tariff. Then un.
Classified dry goods paid s. per hundred
freiehtage to San Francisco, while hoop
skirts, under the classification of wire
goods, were assessed only Sl.5O per Eun-
dred. It was consequently the custom
of merchants to ship bustles as s'wire
goods" or "hoopshirts" indiferently, so
describing them in the bills of lading and
paving the lower rate of charges. Thou
sands OF cases had thus been shipped
and passed by the freight agents without
question, and the goods had been sold
and gone into circulation, when an IN
lucky manufacturer, in February last,
sent to Stiefel, Sachs d Co., of San
Francisco, case Of these goods describ.
ed in the bills of lading as ''bustles."
The guileless California freight agent,
knowing little and processing to know
nothing OF this mysterious dlstender OF
my lady's dress and supporter Of her
skirts and hoops, looked in vain for the
rate on bustles in the tariff catalogue.
He, therefore, charged the rate on un-
classified dry goods Of 8 and preclpl-
tated the contest by sending IN his bitl.
The merchants protested against the
payment, and the matter was referred to
the general traffic managers OF the roads
in New York.
Some of these were married men who
professed to know something about bus
Ties, for ali of their wives were supposed
to wesr them. An elderly gentleman
from among the benedicts was indignant
over what he termed the slow subter-
iuge" Of chasing bustles as hoopskirts
or wire goods when there wasn't bit Of
wire nor hoop of any kind about them.
He ought to know, for his wife had worn
hustle for years. The article was made
of feathers and cloth; two long narrow
bags Just vide enough to-to-well, to
! escape being sat on, were sewed togeth-
er. the larger one below, and fastened
on with strings. Some of the younger
men seemed amused at his description,
and one inquired i old newspapers were
ever employed for stutting lnste9d OF
feathers. A wise looking man, OF ma
turA years and a large family OF girls,
said he had II on the best OF authority
that the newspaper hustle existed only
in the columns OF alleged funny papers.
A well constructed hustle was filled with
curled hair and a still better quality
with wool. In former years he hao
purchased such articles himself and he
felt that he was an authority upon the
subject.
The preponderance Of testimony, al
though it did not agree as to details,
was clearly so far against ''wile goods"
and ''hoopsEirts, and the traffic mana
gers seemed about to sustain the charge
of three dollars per hundred, as IN
classified dry goods, when young mar
ried man with a scab on his nose, who
had listened thus far without speaking,
said he thought there must be something
in the wire theory of construction. He
had gone home little late the week be-
fore little the worse for wear, and was
making manly effort to get to bed
without disturbing his silent partner,
when his foot caught in something that
felt like bird cage about his ankle and
he pitched forward until he reached the
mantel, which he found with his nose.
He uttered an exclamation which trans
formed his silent partner into one OF the
most active kind of partners, and COM
PEELED an explanation. A light being
produced the wreck of the object that
had caused him to fall was brought up
for imprecation and analysis. 1t was his
first offence, and his wife therefore al
lowed her concern over his mlshap to
dominate her Indignation over the con-
dition in which he presented himself.
So she plastered his nose and said the
wreck didn't matter; it could be easily
replaced.
s'But where's the rest Of it, and what S
become of the bird?" he asked.
ssThe bird! what do you mean?" his
wife exclaimed
"Why, isn't that part Of bird cage?
he inquired.
"A bird cage! Ia: ha!-why, yes, if 1
am your little birdie, as | used to be
that's my hustle" she said.
This explanation gave color to the
s'wire goods theory, but still they were
not sufficiently informed and more light
on the subject had to be obtained.
After debating various propositions as to
where they should go for that light, they
finally concluded to go to the shippers
themselves. Here they met Mr.. Strauss,
the bookkeeper, who explained to them
that the hustle of commerce was COM
posed OF wire and hoops and crinoline.
! In former years they had been built OF
cotton and excelsior and hair and wool
and feathers and other things, but never,
he thought, Of newspapers. Nov they
were nearly al of wire, and as there was
no classification of bustles and the
article had superseded hoopskirts, they
felt that they were only doing right in
billing them as wire goods. Atany rate
these were wire goods and they would
maintain their right to their classifca-
ton as such. Apples were always fruit,
but not all fruit were apples, and al
though not all wire goods we're bustles,